The War of the Chainbreaker
The War of the Chainbreaker was a slave revolt occurring in Wransia beginning in 210 AK and lasting until 215 AK. It is generally seen as one of the most disastrous revolts of the slaves in Wransia’s history, and the first one truly led by and for them. Beginning in Raevumil’s Sanctam, the revolt eventually met its demise in Jeraloam, leading to nearly complete destruction of the city and its power, from which it has still not recovered. Causes of the War The generations immediately proceeding Omar II were peaceful for the most part, though with each new High Omeed which took the throne a further burden was placed upon the slaves of the land. The straw that broke the camel’s back was the inheriting of the High Omeedom by Abijam III, the descendant of Omar III and of the ill-fated Abijam I. Known for being oppressive and greedy, he immediately began placing new burdens and restrictions on the slave classes, including a law which forced slaves to give any non-firstborn son up to be sold by the High Omeed to for his own profit. Eventually, one of Abijam III’s personal slaves, a ranger by the name of Rahkon, stood up to the High Omeed when the time came to give up his newborn son and set off the chain of events that would soon lead to war. Progression Rahkan declared all the Omeeds corrupt old men more focused on counting and taxing the sand upon which they walked, rather than governing for the good of their people, and fled Raevumil’s Sanctam with 400 other slaves, taking to a nomadic life of their own, despite being hunted by Abijam III’s armies. When all hope seemed lost for Rahkan and his companions, the chariots of Abijam closing in, something miraculous occurred. The massive sand dune before which they stood is said to have parted into two towering walls of sand through which they could pass. While doing so they encountered an elderly desert sorcerer named Yafar, who closed the dunes to Abijam III and his forces, sealing Rahkan and his followers safely away within the sandy hills. There he showed Rahkan a wondrous system of tunnels and caves which crossed the whole of Wransia, from north to south and east to west. These caves were definitely not of natural construction, and Yafar said that passage without one familiar to them would most certainly lead to death in the most cruel and sometimes bizarre ways. The veracity of these stories is questioned, and some say that such a system of caves and the sorcerer known as Yafar never existed, or that the caves were merely entrances to the Underdark. Yet one way or another, Rahkan and his followers soon emerged near Jeraloam, where its ruler, Omeed Dathrali welcomed them, being a champion of the rights himself. Little did he foresee the dire consequences this invitation would have for him and his people. The Golden Age of Jeraloam For the people of Jeraloam, this was a golden age. Rahkan and his slaves brought new ideas, commerce, and most importantly most of the High Omeed’s treasury of gold, fine works, and magical items, to Jeraloam. The thousands of slaves who began to flock there brought with them their master’s goods and more hands to work, and it was resolved that a new and enlightened city would be formed, one which would expand to change the entirety of Wransia. Dathrali opened his coffers, barracks, and homes for Rahkan and his slaves, offering them a fair amount of accommodation, and giving Rahkan a platform from which to spew vitriolic hate against the overlords who were oppressing them...Unfortunately, many slaves, not knowing the specifics of Dathrali’s help for them, still considered the men of Jeraloam themselves to be numbered among their oppressors... When news reached High Omeed Abijam III that Jeraloam had offered help and support to Rahkan, he became furious. He loudly declared to one and all that he would at last put an end to the Omeed who had been a thorn in the High Omeed’s side for two centuries now, saying, “I will raze their fields and turn Jeraloam’s Throne Room into a crumbling pot into which I throw my refuse.” The Seeds of Jeraloam’s Fall Abijam III’s words would soon come to pass, but not at the hands of the High Omeed. For not a month after Abijam III’s forces marched for Jeraloam, the fiery rhetoric of Rahkan had whipped the slaves gathered in Jeraloam into a frenzy against anyone who might be considered an offender...Even the people of the city in which they had been hosted. Unbeknownst to Rahkan, many of his lieutenants began to grumble that their leader had been blinded or bought off by the people of Jeraloam, and complained of being forced to work and guard the city in which they now found themselves. (Though this was true of everyone residing in Jeraloam, according to their place.) They conspired to do something to remedy this, and restore the ‘purity’ of the rebellion and its goals...This had to start by cutting off the head...By removing Rahkan, Omeed Dathrali, and his family. The Fall of Rahkan Abijam III’s army was not five days away from Jeraloam when the conspirators carried out their plan. It was common knowledge that Rahkan enjoyed rising early in the morning to walk throughout the city, and it was during this walk that they sprung upon him and wrestled him to the ground. They covered him in tar and feathers, parading him through the city as an ‘oppressor’ captured from Abijam’s army, not telling anybody who it really was. The crowds, so incited by Rahkan's rhetoric of weeks and months past, soon carried out the fatal execution, casting him from the walls of the city and into the moat below, where the beasts made short work of his remains. Not long after his fall, Yafar was said to appear upon the tallest tower of Jeraloam, cloaked now in black, and cry out that the slaves had erred, that they had not trusted the judgement of the sands, and for this they would fall. It is said that he brought his staff crashing down onto the dome of the tower, causing it to crumble with him still atop it.' ' The Razing of Jeraloam Abijam III’s forces arrived a few days later to find a city already engulfed in riots, chaos, and destruction; half of the city’s great wall already destroyed. No one is quite sure what caused the slaves to finally truly turn upon Jeraloam. Some say it was diseased water, others a shortage of supplies, and some still subscribe to the theory that there truly was a wizard of some sort who had cast a spell on them all. Whatever the cause, short work was made of Jeraloam. Within two days there was nothing but a field of torn apart bricks and bodies stretching nearly as far as the eye could see. Only one house was left standing, though it is said Abijam III and his men tried their hardest to tear it down...That was the house where the Chainbreaker had made residence. It stands still today as the center of the new Jeraloam, and it is said it has never shown signs of aging or had need of repair, though this is disputed. Aftermath While being the most genuine of slave rebellions, the War of the Chainbreaker was by far the most disastrous. The destruction of Jeraloam caused havoc throughout Wransia for years after, and the effect on the slave classes was not that which was sought after. The High Omeed had shown what happened to cities who spoke against him, even if his vengeance was not accomplished by his own hand, and for the rest of his rule, the other Omeeds bowed to him out of fear. Slavery would eventually be outlawed from Wransia (or at least, in Raevumil’s Sactam), but this was thanks in no part to the War of the Chainbreaker. Bandit tribes became more aggressive after Jeraloam’s fall, taking the Chainbreaker as a sort of patron saint, and some say that after consuming such a righteous man the beasts of Wransia became more feral, more wild and less majestic than before. Today, songs of the Chainbreaker are sung to remind listeners of the horrors that this world is capable of, and the War of the Chainbreaker is seen as one of the greatest tragedies in history. Category:War Category:Wransia